I have been an IDEA member since 2005 and have been attending the yearly conventions there after. What amazes me the most, is that year after year, I count down the days to the convention, and get so bummed when the final day has come and gone.

This year, we had over 8,000 attendees from all over the world and over 360 educational sessions. The greatest challenge for an attendee is what classes to choose because there are so many excellent presenters.

My strategic planning is as follows:

Take classes that I can apply immediately at work.

Take classes from my favorite presenters.

Take a class on a subject of which I am not convinced, however, will attend without judgment.

That said, this is what my schedule looked like with my rating system from above:

Eve is the owner of Gym Without Walls in Encino. She is an excellent Master Trainer and runs a very successful boot camp. Her classes are always solid, tough, and what I love most about Eve is that what you see, is what you get. A true professional!

Brett Klika was voted as IDEA's personal trainer of the year. If you ever have the great pleasure of meeting Brett, you will immediately understand why he was awarded this honor. I have been attending Brett’s sessions for years and what I love most about Brett is that he truly understands the importance of keeping it simple and FUN. For over ten years, he has been working with Todd Durkin, at Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, and their success with teen athletes and adults is highly regarded. I always walk out of Brett’s class laughing like a kid.

Opening Ceremonies:

The keynote speaker was Bo Easten, former NFL pro. After he retired, he pursued play writing and acting. His running show is called “Runt of the Litter”. Holly molly, this man is powerful. His message was “Why your personal story is the most valuable asset you have”. An invaluable presentation!

Also awarded was Peter Twist, MSc, with the Inspirational Award. Peter has been in the fitness industry for over two decades and is recognized as one the greatest Sports Conditioning Coaches. He recently fought Stage IV cancer in the head and neck, which had spread throughout his lymph system. “Peters story of conviction, passion, drive, and survival teaches us the importance of living life with purpose and being your best when your best is needed.”

Sherri is top notch in the health and fitness industry. She owns a very successful gym in Vancouver, Washington called Northwest Personal Training. This woman knows fitness. She is an amazing wealth of knowledge, not only on the fitness side of things, but also on the business and marketing side of fitness. Whenever I leave her class, I am able to apply a number of things to my training.

I have heard so much about barefoot running and barefoot shoes that I wanted to learn more. I learned a great deal about foot anatomy, however I am still not ready to run out and buy Vibram shoes. I still need to do more research to be convinced that barefoot running is healthy for the Western lifestyle.

Chalene is the creator of Turbo Kick, PiYo, Turbo Jam, Hustle, ChaLean Extreme, and Turbo Fire. Her class was in the showcase room with over 300 participants that were all given glow sticks upon arrival…AT 7AM. The energy was ROCKIN’. Chalene introduced some new “sports” kickboxing combinations that were a HIIT. Everyone walked out sweating from head to toe while having a blast. Her positive energy is out of this world.

I have one word for you…ENERGY! We must have had over 400 hundred trainers in the showcase room. We had 4 stations of intense workouts. We used the tubes, fire ropes, Bosu, ladders, cones, and more. The greatest moment was when I had to anchor the rope for a very tall, ripped man ½ my age. When he went at it with the double ropes I was almost airborne. It was a Kodak comment.

Brent owns a personal training gym called West U Fitness in Houston, Texas. His message was very refreshing. In this world of Branding, Facebooking, Tweeting, etc., he brought it back to what our profession is all about, and that is being humanistic. One quote that stuck with me is, “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” This class validated why I run JESIKAfit the way I do. My competitors are boot camps and fad fitness, however I have always stayed true to my personalized approach. Even my largest class does not exceed 15 people. I truly believe that quality is more important than quantity. But isn't that the foundation of fitness and nutrition? It isn't about how many "super sets" you can do...was your form safe while doing the movement? It doesn't matter if you only eat 1,200kcal a day...what is the QUALITY of the source of your calories?

What a great way to end the evening. Jay has been presenting at IDEA for 22 years. This was his last year at IDEA due to a new job opportunity. This class was incredibly relaxing…. mind, body, and spirit. I left his class feeling like I am floating without any pain or troubles. A blessing!

When I enter Mindy’s class, I know in about 30 minutes I will be in tears. Mindy is one of the funniest, most energetic, and toughest instructors I have ever experienced. In this class she used three items, bender balls, gliders, and ropeless jump ropes. (This year, for those of you who’ve wanted your own pair of ropes, I bought 25 pair, so you are welcome to purchase them). This was another “walk away with a wealth of information” class. What I love most about Mindy is that she is adamant that we take home as much information as possible. Her generosity to share exceeds her height and weight.

This was an excellent class for the future of OH-Athletes and TEENfitness. Ingrid consults with companies on health and fitness and Bill Parisi, who owns the Parisi Speed School. Their presentation was fantastic. My teaching method for teens was validated and more importantly, it feels great to know that I am providing a life changing experience for our Ararat teens. I am always striving to learn more so I can empower Ararat teens to achieve their goals. I definitely will be utilizing everything I learned from this workshop.

Once again, Sherri is a huge resource for business owners. She has created the “Business of Personal Training System”. She is a wealth of information and is always enthusiastic to share her success and knowledge. In this class I learned many new things about marketing and business development in the fitness industry.

Brent Bishop is the owner of Think Fitness Studios, a Toranto, Canada based gym. WOW, what a great class. The class had four different stations and we had to partner up at each station and guide our partner in diffrerent exercises. My partner was AWESOME. I learned some simple, yet extremely effective exercises and cannot wait to teach them. As many of you have seen on FB, this is the class that I had my little “eye-opening” accident. We had created two lines across from each other. The objective was to sprint across the room, high-5 the person receiving us, which means they can now take off for their sprint. Well, I took off for my sprint (on carpet I might add), high-5ed the receiver and kept on going. Next thing I knew, everyone jumps out of my way (thank goodness were are all fit trainers that could move quickly), and I had the choice of running into the wall or sliding into the empty boxes. I chose the latter and, in the process, managed to cut my eyelid on a box. I was shocked that I could sprint that fast, and was so excited to get myself up to do it again. I had no idea that I had cut my eye until I felt a stinging in the next class. No wonder everyone was looking at me strangely!

What a feel good class. Jay shared his experience in the health and fitness industry and what he has learned through his travels around the world and the different people he has met. His philosophy consists of what he calls “The Simple 6”.

Get Real

Get Busy

Get Over It

Be Yourself

Be Brave

Be Generous

A great ending to a great conference. I am already looking forward to IDEA World Convention 2014.

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